Reading the above, you are bound to think of Alain Declercq as the ultimate daredevil artist. And you are right: destabilising, disturbing and subverting are the keywords of his artistic practice. Alain Declercq always takes a close look at representations of power and authority, and then tries to turn them around and reveal their ambiguity.

To give you an example: Alain duplicated a police car for an exhibition in the Centre d¹Art de Brétigny (2002), and allowed the visitors to borrow the fake vehicle. After signing a contract of loan - stating that the borrower is aware of the articles of the Penal Code and assumes entire responsibility for the consequences of the loan - they could take the car and use it on public roads. The perfect paradox: Alain entered total illegality at the precise moment when he tried, with success, to represent one of the symbols of legality.

Another example: at the opening exhibition of the Palais de Tokyo (2002) Alain installed a wooden panel pierced by 650 bullet holes, fired from an automatic gun by an official elite marksman. The holes formed the words Instinct de Mort¹, which is the title of a book by Jacques Mesrine. Those who do not know the story: Mesrine was responsible for the massacre at Porte de Clignancourt in 1979 and was assasinated by an official elite marksman - maybe even the same man who re-wrote the title of the book with his deadly weapon. Again: Alain succeeded in confronting symbolic violence and real violence.

For Quarantine Series Alain Declercq will create a new installation, combining two new works and a large wallpiece titled Jolly Roger (created for the Centre d¹ Art Passerelle in Brest in 2002). This work can be seen as a kind of follow-up of Instinct de Mort¹: this time Alain pulled the trigger himself - 25,000 times! ­ to explore the stylistic potential of a 'peinture au pistolet¹.

Alain Declercq will be in Amsterdam from Thursday 24 July to Sunday 27 July to work on his exhibition. If you would like to meet him, please contact us at quarantine@loods6.nl